Hello Forums!
Voice acting when done right can draw you very deeply into a story or an event. Sometimes the things we remember the most are the music and sounds of certain parts of a game. Voice acting is no different. When movies float around in your head, we can remember certain 'saying's of important parts. Such as "You shall not pass!" from LoTR's. In video games the quote "You made me what I am." from Garrosh Hellscream as he was executed by Thrall (Which Thrall did by cheating, using magic during the 'tradition heavy' fight is dishonorable) is very special to me. I want to have these moments in Pantheon.
Look at games like Elder Scrolls Online. They have a voice clip from a voice actor for every quest when it's given to you by a person. The amount of money which went into that must have been huge. But in my view it was worth it. When doing quests I skip the dialogue because quests are just 'pick this up and bring it back' or 'kill some of these and tell me you done it'. In Elder Scrolls Online I listened to the voice-actors performance and enjoyed questing more. Now, maybe it's just ME that feels this way, but, i'm going to go out on a limb and say I feel some certainty this is not the case. There are a lot of people who enjoy good voice acting in their games for the reasons already stated.
Pantheon will be more like EQ, with fewer quests but more epic ones, leading to great rewards. -Aradune
The price tag of voice acting can be pretty high, but, if we understand the game will have much less but more meaningful quests it could cost much less money than other games would spend on voice acting. To which VR could decide to either save money or put in more to get the very best voice actors they could get.
I truly hope voice acting makes a strong appearance in this game. To me as a connoisseur of MMORPG's, voice acting talent used for all quests is a big deal for me as it has helped me enjoy the game more. How do the rest of you feel about voice acting? Are there any voice actors or movie star voices you would like to see?
-Todd
Though I agree, if I had to make a guess I would say very little will go into voice acting. That said, these guys get my vote! (For those who don't know http://geekandsundry.com/shows/critical-role/ :D)
Please, VR, do not waste a single dime on voice acting for NPCs. EQII blew so much of their budget on stupid voice action only to watch everyone just spam clicked to get past the stupidly long narration anytime you spoke with an NPC. Instead, spend that money on creating more and more and more content...and some on balancing classes, etc.
We have no plans for voice acting, we would rather spend time and energy on systems and mechanics, lore and graphics, animations and art etc. to immerse you in than spend it on voice acting, so unless something dramatically changes during development, it is unlikely you will see any voice acting in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. :)
Kilsin said:We have no plans for voice acting, we would rather spend time and energy on systems and mechanics, lore and graphics, animations and art etc. to immerse you in than spend it on voice acting, so unless something dramatically changes during development, it is unlikely you will see any voice acting in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. :)
Quick and clear response. Thank you Kilsin!
I wont hide the fact I am saddened and dissappointed with the answer, I understand how the budget is working against us in this. But I am grateful for the response time, it lets me focus on other things.
Thanks again,
-Todd
-PS, those african spurred tortoises better look amazing in game.
tehtawd said:Kilsin said:We have no plans for voice acting, we would rather spend time and energy on systems and mechanics, lore and graphics, animations and art etc. to immerse you in than spend it on voice acting, so unless something dramatically changes during development, it is unlikely you will see any voice acting in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. :)
Quick and clear response. Thank you Kilsin!
I wont hide the fact I am saddened and dissappointed with the answer, I understand how the budget is working against us in this. But I am grateful for the response time, it lets me focus on other things.
Thanks again,
-Todd
-PS, those african spurred tortoises better look amazing in game.
You're welcome and haha, I will keep nagging the devs about tortoises :D
Kilsin said:We have no plans for voice acting, we would rather spend time and energy on systems and mechanics, lore and graphics, animations and art etc. to immerse you in than spend it on voice acting, so unless something dramatically changes during development, it is unlikely you will see any voice acting in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. :)
Glad to hear this, Voice acting is great for games like Uncharted, but I don't think it suits MMO's all that well. With how large and expansive a MMO's world is, I can see it costing a fortune to voice it. I also like to use my imagination to give the characters a voice as I read. I've heard quite a few voice acted characters that didn't fit the image I had of them or the emotions between lines didn't connect properly (going from angry one line to happy the next with no transition between emotions).
Money better spent elsewhere I say :)
I must be in the minority here but I hate voice acting. Whenever people voice act things they always speak really slowly. Much slower than I could actually read the text so I find it just slows me right down. I'd really just prefer to read the text.
It can be cool for some really special quests that are essential to someone's story line such as an epic quest for instance but for normal run of the mill quests I'd prefer it not to be voice acted.
Edit: Gah. I really should read the whole thread before posting. I'm glad there are no plans for voice acting. I agree that the money spent on it is much better spent elsewhere.
Kilsin said:We have no plans for voice acting, we would rather spend time and energy on systems and mechanics, lore and graphics, animations and art etc. to immerse you in than spend it on voice acting, so unless something dramatically changes during development, it is unlikely you will see any voice acting in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. :)
Thank goodness :) I can't stand voice acting in MMO's.
Kilsin said:We have no plans for voice acting, we would rather spend time and energy on systems and mechanics, lore and graphics, animations and art etc. to immerse you in than spend it on voice acting, so unless something dramatically changes during development, it is unlikely you will see any voice acting in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. :)
Thanks for the conmfirmation. I am not a fan of voice acting and think its a huge waste of time and $$$$$, however, I do agree when VA is done right it can be a difference maker for some games. I just never liked it and always thought game dev's should of focused their time else where..
Rint
Cromulent said:I must be in the minority here but I hate voice acting.
Edit: Gah. I really should read the whole thread before posting. I'm glad there are no plans for voice acting. I agree that the money spent on it is much better spent elsewhere.
Haha. This made me laugh ;)
Voice acting certainly brings a lot to a story, but really only for games that are ment to be played as a story. I played through the past two mmo's with voice acting(ESO and SWTOR) and although it is nice, You do notice how much more of a Online RPG it feels and less of a MMO. Thing such as content that should of been there at launch are delayed 3 or 4 years out. So it's just easier to exclude it from the start. This also gives the traditional MMO experience I think a lot of us remember.
Rivacom said:Voice acting certainly brings a lot to a story, but really only for games that are ment to be played as a story. I played through the past two mmo's with voice acting(ESO and SWTOR) and although it is nice, You do notice how much more of a Online RPG it feels and less of a MMO. Thing such as content that should of been there at launch are delayed 3 or 4 years out. So it's just easier to exclude it from the start. This also gives the traditional MMO experience I think a lot of us remember.
And not to mention the budget (or should I say "blown budget) of SWTOR… Though, I have to say the cinematic videos/trailers for that game were unreal! I so wish that they would put out a full length movie or miniseries set in the Old Republic with that level of CGI. I digress.
tehtawd said:Hello Forums!
Voice acting when done right can draw you very deeply into a story or an event. Sometimes the things we remember the most are the music and sounds of certain parts of a game. Voice acting is no different. When movies float around in your head, we can remember certain 'saying's of important parts. Such as "You shall not pass!" from LoTR's. In video games the quote "You made me what I am." from Garrosh Hellscream as he was executed by Thrall (Which Thrall did by cheating, using magic during the 'tradition heavy' fight is dishonorable) is very special to me. I want to have these moments in Pantheon.
Look at games like Elder Scrolls Online. They have a voice clip from a voice actor for every quest when it's given to you by a person. The amount of money which went into that must have been huge. But in my view it was worth it. When doing quests I skip the dialogue because quests are just 'pick this up and bring it back' or 'kill some of these and tell me you done it'. In Elder Scrolls Online I listened to the voice-actors performance and enjoyed questing more. Now, maybe it's just ME that feels this way, but, i'm going to go out on a limb and say I feel some certainty this is not the case. There are a lot of people who enjoy good voice acting in their games for the reasons already stated.
Pantheon will be more like EQ, with fewer quests but more epic ones, leading to great rewards. -Aradune
The price tag of voice acting can be pretty high, but, if we understand the game will have much less but more meaningful quests it could cost much less money than other games would spend on voice acting. To which VR could decide to either save money or put in more to get the very best voice actors they could get.
I truly hope voice acting makes a strong appearance in this game. To me as a connoisseur of MMORPG's, voice acting talent used for all quests is a big deal for me as it has helped me enjoy the game more. How do the rest of you feel about voice acting? Are there any voice actors or movie star voices you would like to see?
-Todd
Voice acting can be quite an expensive proposition. Hopefully cut-scenes (unless for an epic quest) will be kept to a minimum, same for voice acting, due to funding budgets etc. I don't need my character "voiced" that's part of role play being able to have that voice in your head as you roleplay your character. Part of the immersion. Some stand alone games or roleplay games have gone overboard with the voice acting in my opinion. Cut-scenes the same, I don't want to be the audience in the back row, I want to be the participant.
Cana
Nikademis said:Rivacom said:Voice acting certainly brings a lot to a story, but really only for games that are ment to be played as a story. I played through the past two mmo's with voice acting(ESO and SWTOR) and although it is nice, You do notice how much more of a Online RPG it feels and less of a MMO. Thing such as content that should of been there at launch are delayed 3 or 4 years out. So it's just easier to exclude it from the start. This also gives the traditional MMO experience I think a lot of us remember.
And not to mention the budget (or should I say "blown budget) of SWTOR… Though, I have to say the cinematic videos/trailers for that game were unreal! I so wish that they would put out a full length movie or miniseries set in the Old Republic with that level of CGI. I digress.
I beta tested SWTOR, cut-scenes and voice acting ARE expensive, might even be too expensive for this current project due to the way it is funded. We don't need the game playing the game for us...good old fashioned immersion, with each of us playing our characters the way they are in our heads, not plastic replicas of what the Devs might think we want to play. :)
Rivacom said:Voice acting certainly brings a lot to a story, but really only for games that are ment to be played as a story. I played through the past two mmo's with voice acting(ESO and SWTOR) and although it is nice, You do notice how much more of a Online RPG it feels and less of a MMO. Thing such as content that should of been there at launch are delayed 3 or 4 years out. So it's just easier to exclude it from the start. This also gives the traditional MMO experience I think a lot of us remember.
I'll agree that it brings the game more to life...the first time you hear the long winded blatherings of some NPC with whom you're interacting. 100 times later? It's just a huge annoyance.